Art Bot Kit

Absolutely everything in the world is made up of atoms. These atoms are made up of three types of particles called protons, neutrons and electrons and each particle carries a charge. Protons carry a positive (+) charge and electrons carry a negative (-) charge.

When the particles interact they either repel or attract one another. Like the poles of a magnet the “like” or same particles (+,+ or -,-) will repel each other and push away but “opposite” particles (+,-) attract one another and come together.

Look at the atom diagram. Notice that the number of protons and electrons is equal. This is because their positive (+) and negative (-) charges attract each other, which helps stabilize the atom. When just one particle is out of balance things start to get really ELECTRIFYING!

The circuit diagram on the left includes a battery, wires and a motor that are connected in a circle to create a circuit. (In Latin, “circuitus” means “to go around”). When batteries are connected in a circuit  a chain reaction is activated and the product of that reaction is an electron. As long as the circuit remains intact and the electrons continue to flow this is called a closed circuit.

Wires are full of atoms that are happily balanced. But their electrons loosely orbit their nucleus meaning they can be moved more easily than atoms that are more tightly arranged. Atoms with loosely orbiting electrons make up materials called  conductors  because they are good for moving electricity. When a battery emits an additional electron into a wire’s balanced space, it’s repelled from one electron to the other until it reaches the positive end of the battery and starts the reaction all over again. The movement of this repelled electron creates friction and produces the energy needed to power the electronics we use every day!

In most electrical equipment the red wire is positive (+) and the black wire is negative (-). Circuits must be closed to work! Positive goes to positive and negative goes to negative until they meet at the battery. If these wires are crossed anywhere other than the battery they divert the flow of electrons and cause what is called a “short circuit”; the electron flow stops “short” before it reaches its destination.